This disclosure relates to aft seal plate geometry for use in, for example, an industrial gas turbine engine.
Turbomachines, such as gas turbine engines, typically include a turbine section, a compressor section, and a combustor section. The compressed air is mixed with fuel and combusted in the combustor section. The products of combustion are expanded in the turbine section. In the case of an industrial gas turbine engine, the turbine section includes a power turbine, which is arranged downstream from a turbine that drives the compressor. The power turbine rotationally drives a generator to produce electricity.
In one type of industrial gas turbine engine, a flow path is provided between the power turbine and the upstream turbine. A fairing provides an inner flow path surface. A forward end of the fairing is fixed with respect to engine static structure, and an aft end of the fairing is free to float axially in response to thermal growth. An aft seal plate is secured relative to the engine static structure and provides a seal with respect to the fairing's free end. The aft seal plate is an annular structure and extends linearly in an aftward direction from an inner end secured to the engine static structure to an outer end that seals relative to the free end. During some engine operating conditions, the aft seal plate and free end may undesirably collide.